Just An Illusion
by SixNewAdventures
Summary: After a mission against Morgaine le Fey goes wrong, Skylar is turned into something she really doesn't want to become. Fearing that if she leaves Dick's side, she'll lose the human side of her, she sticks to her brother like a leech. but what happens when Skylar is the only one who can give a pack of retired champs one last victory? Sequel to "Backstory"
1. Part 1

**A/N: Okay, so this little story has been floating around my head for a while after I re watched The Shaggy Dog. I was thinking, what if something happened like that to Skylar. I was somewhat interested to explore Dick's reaction to that; I assume he would be in total denial of it, and this was born. It will be a six-part story, and takes place six months after Skylar moves in with Dick. She's now fifteen, while Dick is still twenty-three. **

**So, hope you guys like it!**

* * *

Part 1

* * *

There's just something about Huskies that's always fascinated her.

Seriously, their soft fur, striking eyes, strong personalities; what's not to love? She's always admired that breed since their trip to Alaska almost a year ago. She still sometimes dreads that trip as it reminds her of the time she nearly killed her brother. Sure, she didn't know he was her brother back then, but the thought still haunts her.

At the moment, she's fixed on this awesome documentary about sled dogs on the TV. There's only so much you can do on a Saturday afternoon when your brother is at some meeting. So, she had made herself a cup of hot cocoa and sat in front of the TV, watching the first thing it showed when she switched it on. She's probably been here for about an hour when she sees Shiloh's head snap up. That's when the door opens and she turns to see Dick closing the door, his tie loose around his neck and his blazer on his arm.

"Back so soon?" she asks, knowing that when he left for the meeting, he said it would be at least three hours long.

He shrugs. "I couldn't take it anymore, so I left." He says, placing the blazer on the sofa and removing the tie.

"Can you do that?" she asks.

"Well, my father is everyone's boss, so that gives me the privilege of leaving whenever I want to." He grins, unbuttoning the collar button of his shirt. When she goes back to watching the TV, he leans over her shoulder. "What're you watching?" he asks.

She shrugs. "Just something about sled dogs." She answers.

He knowingly smiles at her. As Shiloh trots over to him, he bends down to stroke her head. Just as he does it, a loud beeping noise starts, making Shiloh freak. It also makes Skylar almost drop her hot cocoa. She turns around as he calms the dog down.

"What was that?" she asks.

He walks over to his briefcase and opens it, taking out a small communicator. "Trouble." He answers, starting towards the bedroom where he kept his suit. "We need to go, _now_."

"What's it this time?" she asks, making Shiloh sit and slowly calm down.

"Theft at a local museum in Gotham." He says, closing the door.

"What about?" she asks, moving to her own room. Well, the room which had all of her clothes and stuff. Ever since she moved, she's sort of been sleeping in his room. She herself doesn't know what happened. But she remembers having a nightmare the night she moved and went over to Dick's room for some reassurance and ended up sleeping beside him. Somehow, she thinks that he feels that if she sleeps alone she would be a victim of nightmares again. She'd normally try to shoot it down, but after the first couple of times, she just gave up.

"I'll tell you when we get there." He says, coming out dressed in his Nightwing suit.

* * *

"Have you heard about the Gem of Bahari?" he asks as he jumps from rooftop to rooftop.

She shakes her head, flying alongside him. "No, I don't think you ever told me about that one."

"Well, the Gem of Bahari is a priceless gem, as you could have got from the name, from its origins traced to tribes in Africa. It was a gift from the chief of the Bahari tribe, now long disbanded, to the chief of another tribe as a wedding gift. The wedding was arranged between the Bahari tribe's chief's son and the neighboring tribe chieftain's daughter to secure good relations between the two tribes. But, the son fell in love with another girl, which was frowned upon. He broke off the engagement to pursue this girl and caused a situation which almost sent the two tribes to war." He explains.

"And that would be bad because…?" she asks.

"Well, even though the neighboring tribe, called the Nyasi tribe, was more in number, the Bahari tribe worked with Nature. They spent so much time in the company of wild animals that the animals listened to them and followed them. They also practiced a special form of magic that made you one with your primal roots." He finishes.

"Wow…" she says. He nods.

"Anyway, a war on the tribes would result in unnecessary bloodshed. So, hoping to avert the war, the Bahari king was forced to give his tribe's most prized possession, a Gem that was of immense value. He warned the Nyasi tribe chief of the power the Gem radiated. But greed overcame the tribal chief and he tried to use its power to wreck havoc on the natural balance of the area. The Gem's power became too much for him to bear and he succumbed to it. The Bahari tribe chief stole the Gem back and buried it far, where it was excavated years later and has been going around the world for almost three hundred years." He whips out his grappling hook and swings to the nearest building, where he puts it away and continues running.

"So, what does this Gem look like?" she asks.

"Imagine a rock, somewhere between three to five pounds yet can still fit in your hand, but made of pure sapphire." She unconsciously fingers the sapphire bracelet on her wrist, the last connection to her mother. "It's this blue stone that seems to change colors when exposed to different light conditions. You can pretty much see the power it holds. It took mankind over ten years to find it, and despite being old, it hasn't even showed an ounce of change."

"But it's here now, isn't it?" she asks. He nods.

"We think Morgaine le Fey's gonna try and use its power to bring her son to power." He says.

"Wait, Morgaine le fey?" she asks. "_That's_ who we're dealing with?"

"Which is why Robin and Batgirl called for both of us." He finishes. "You up for it?"

She grins at him. "When have you known me to back down from a challenge?" she asks.

"At least thirty times so far." He nonchalantly answers.

"Okay, guilty." She says. "But this is definitely my style."

"I wouldn't call this _your_ style of a mission." He interjects, constantly keeping that annoying smirk on his face.

"What would you know? She asks. "You've barely known me a year."

"Oh, that just proves you don't know me enough." He counters.

"And Tim says we don't fight." She laughs along with him as the museum comes up.

* * *

They find Tim and Barbara waiting outside as they arrive.

"What took you so long?" Tim asks when they finally land next to Barbara.

"The zeta tube near the museum broke down." Dick explains. "So we had to take the beam to our house and then run all this way."

"Anyway," Barbara cuts in, giving Skylar a nod, "Morgaine le Fey's stealing the Gem right now. We go in and we might stop her from getting her hands on that kind of power."

Dick looks to Skylar. "Let's do this." She says.

They burst in and see that le Fey with a huge blue rock in her hands. Skylar guesses that _that's_ the Bahari Gem. Dick was right. In this condition, with the lights hitting it just right, it seemed more like a kaleidoscope than a blue stone. She can see why the GCPD wanted to desperately keep this particular stone. It was the definition of simple yet pure beauty. If she looked closer, she could also swear she could hear a lion roar or an elephant trumpet, although it was simply a figment of her imagination.

"Let the Gem go, le fey." Dick calls. "There's no escape."

The witch stops in her tracks. "Oh, the Big Bad Bat sent his three pups to capture me, did he, and oh, someone new." Skylar suddenly feels very self-conscious as le Fey sizes her up, looking up and down her body.

Protectively, Dick steps forward. "I'll repeat: let the Gem go!"

Morgaine le Fey looks at the Gem in her hand and then at them and then back to the Gem. Suddenly, her face breaks out into a cruel smile. "Not a chance, Nightwing." Saying so, she mutters a few words that make the Gem glow bright blue.

"Look out!" the last thing she hears is Dick's voice before she loses consciousness.

* * *

When she wakes up, all she can think of is how much her head hurts. She opens her eyes, wondering why she felt, furry. She sees Dick, Barbara and Tim, with the Gem safely in its case and Morgaine le Fey all wrapped up in chains for the police to find. So, why was everyone staring at her like that? Why wasn't anybody telling her what to do? Did she have to take over? Did she have to become the leader? Did she have to correct these people who were showing so much _instability_?

Wait…what on earth was she thinking? Why did she have this strong desire to exercise?

And first of all, what was this weird itching feeling in her mouth?

She stands up when she notices that she's still on all fours, and all three Bats look so large. She opens her mouth to ask what happened, but that comes out is weird _whine_. She tries to form words, but simply can't. All she accomplishes is more whines and finally, a bark. She looks up at them, mentally asking Dick what's going on, hoping that he'd answer.

"How did this happen, Dick?" Tim asks.

"I'm…I'm not sure." Dick says, looking extremely stunned. She tries to ignore the nagging feeling that she needed to bite somebody and secure balance.

"Was it the Gem?" Barbara asks.

"Could be…" Dick says as he, Tim and Barbara get drawn into a conversation. Slightly irritated with the confusion, Skylar barks once to let them know that she's still here. She needed an explanation to why there was a tail behind her!

"Oh, I forgot you still don't know." Dick says, going down on one knee to her level as he removes a mirror from his utility belt. She still doesn't know why he has a mirror in there, but has a feeling she's about to find out. He holds up the mirror to her face, and she's met with the shock of the life.

The face she sees in the mirror is hardly even close to human. It's sort of more wolfish yet not a true wolf and she has a nagging feeling she knows that face anywhere. Black fur covers her face and her upright, alert ears. White fur covers her muzzle and neck. Blue eyes, her eyes, stare back at her. It takes her a few more seconds to put it all together. That's when she realizes that she's a dog!

No, not a dog. A Siberian Husky!

She scrambles, looking around for her mother's bracelet as she panics. But Dick puts a hand on the back of her neck and she feels calm at once. Almost like he knows what she was looking for, he fingers something around her neck, where she finds that the bracelet has found its way around her neck, like a very expensive collar.

She heaves a sigh of relief and tries to talk before she forgets that she's a _dog_. Thinking about that fills her with panic as all these new instincts and emotions are extremely frightening to her. But luckily, Dick was right beside her the whole time, calming her down whenever she started slipping into these new instincts.

"You get Zatanna yet?" Dick asks Tim, who is on the phone.

"I think I have." Tim says. "It's ringing, wait…Oh hey Zatanna. Tim here. Listen, we have a slight problem over here…huh? Okay, I'll give it to him." He covers the mouthpiece. "She wants to hear it from you, Dick."

Dick gets up, eliciting a small whimper from Skylar. He takes the phone from Tim as Tim takes Dick's place beside Skylar, stroking her black fur to calm her. Dick quickly has a hushed conversation with Zatanna and then puts the phone down a full agonizing minute later.

"So?" Barbara asks, still in shock.

"She says she has to come and see for herself." Dick says.

Skylar suddenly feels a lot of jealous, negative feeling coming off Barbara in waves. She can feel the energy increasing whenever Tim says Zatanna's name. Unable to take so much toxic emotion, she whimpers, which results in all three of them soothing her and taking the topic off the magician.

"Let's get her back to the house." Dick says, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number that was pretty much on his speed dial.

"Who are you calling?" Barbara asks, and Skylar feels more negative energy coming.

"Alex." Dick answers. "I'm gonna get him to take Shiloh for a few days while we figure out what to do."

Hearing that, Skylar barks, trying to get him to remember what happened the _last_ time Alex took Shiloh for a few days. They had found the golden retriever at the local shelter. After that, Skylar wouldn't trust her best friend with her dog for a _long_ time. Luckily, Dick gets the message.

"Or no." he says, earning a small gruff. "I'll get him to put Shiloh in the kennel for a few days."

* * *

"I have absolutely no idea what caused this." Zatanna admits, stepping back from Skylar.

"You don't?" Dick asks, one hand still in her fur as he sits next to her.

Zatanna shakes her head. "It's a force more powerful than I've ever known. All I know that it took up her most powerful primal nature and transformed her into the corresponding animal."

"So that's a husky?" Dick asks.

"It makes perfect sense." She says. "Her strong yet silent nature, her ability to take on almost anything, her love for adventure and exercise; it's makes perfect sense that she would be turned into a husky."

"But it is reversible, isn't it?" he asks, trying to avoid all the similarities she just pointed out.

She nods. "It is, but there's a catch."

"What catch?"

"I don't know the counter spell yet. She has to stay in a human mindset till I find it, and I don't know how long it will take. If she gives in to the dog nature, she could be stuck as a dog forever, and even I won't be able to do anything about it."

* * *

**A/N: So, that's part one. Hope you guys liked all the twists and turns that will be coming up. I have a whole store of surprises planned for this, if you guys like it enough, that is.**

**Please review.**


	2. Part 2

**A/N: Oh, I forgot to add in the previous part. By this time, they find out Jason is alive and kicking.**

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

Part 2

* * *

"_I don't know the counter spell yet. She has to stay in a human mindset till I find it, and I don't know how long it will take. If she gives in to the dog nature, she could be stuck as a dog forever, and even I won't be able to do anything about it."_

* * *

Dick narrowed his eyes, not sure what he was feeling about his sister's transformation. He knew that she was scared and was barely hanging on, but he wasn't sure for how much longer.

"Well, we've gotta try." He says, running a hand through her black fur. She looks at him with huge eyes, and he strokes her head, hoping to comfort her.

"Dick?" he barely registers Zatanna's voice. "Hm?" he asks.

She walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I can't do anything else." She says, eyes filled with guilt. He reassuringly smiles at her.

"You did a lot, Zee." He says. "Just, could you hurry up with the search for that spell? It's a bit weird that my sister's a dog."

Skylar snuffs a little beside him and he turns his head back to her. "You and me both, _Vrabia_." He tells her.

Zatanna laughs. "You can actually understand her?" she chuckles, but her laugh falters when she sees his expression. "Oh, you _can_." He simply nods, continuing to stroke his sister's head and neck. "So, what now?"

"It's simple; I simply have to take care of her." He says. When he sees her confused face, he continues, "She's the most human when she's by my side. While coming here, we let her interact with another dog, but she began to act _like a dog_, not a human. We didn't know then, so we took her away. But now, guess I'll just have to treat her as humanely as possible."

Then, unexpectedly, Zatanna reaches forward and places her hand on his cheek. "Good luck." She whispers before brushing her lips softly against his. Then she gets up and leaves.

Skylar turns to him and snorts. He turns to her with an amused look on his face. "Jealous now, are we?" he jokes, ruffling the fur underneath her ears.

* * *

She sniffs at the food kept down in front of her. She skeptically looks at her brother, who gives a huge sigh.

"I know what you're thinking, it's not dog food." He tells her. "It's your favorite, hamburger."

Satisfied with that, she carefully eats the meal, trying not to give into the voice inside her head, yelling at her to gobble it up because you wouldn't know when you'd find food again. Just as he sits down to eat, his phone begins to ring.

Sighing, Dick stands up, taking his phone and answering the call. She sits down, leaving her food untouched, waiting for him, despite her instincts protesting against this. She had to remember! She was a human, not a dog, under any circumstances.

It takes a few moments for him to come back, and when he does, he has a very exhausted look on his face. He plops himself down on the sofa and she walks over to him, placing her head beside his hand where was lying on the seat. She looks up at him, mentally asking him what's wrong.

"That was Bruce." He says. "Apparently, Tim and Barbara told him what happened to you, and he's not very happy. He's specifically given me instructions to keep you by my side, so that you won't get into any trouble," she snorts, "and that he'll also contact Dr Fate to help. I told him that Zatanna was on the case, and he's already spoken to the kennel to extend Shiloh's stay to indefinite." She noses his hand slightly, and he motions for her to come up on the couch, which she gladly does. "But that wasn't all, Bruce says he was due for a business meeting in some town in Alaska, but can't since the League has been having a few problems. So he wants me to go and seal the deal."

She stiffens slightly at the sound of Alaska, but waits to let him finish. "Considering that I can't actually _leave_ you at a kennel or with someone and go, Bruce has let me take you with me." Her ears perk up. "Well, most of it was _my_ idea, since Bruce actually suggested leaving you with Tim or Jason or Wally as this business deal is extremely important for the company. But, considering what happened with Tim, Jason's _colorful_ vocabulary and Wally's inability to care for own dog, I suggested taking you with me. That way, we'll also get to spend some time together," he rubs the back of her ears, "although not in the way _I_ originally imagined it."

Just then, the doorbell rings, and she feels a strange emotion overcome her, the urge to bark and warn the pack so that they could take care of whoever decided to set foot in her territory…Wait, what? She shakes her head as Dick gets up and gets the door.

Outside, he finds Wally waiting for him.

"Wally, what are you doing here?" Dick asks. "I thought I made it pretty clear when I texted you that I _didn't_ want any company."

"I just wanted to see for myself." Wally answers, curling the leash around his arm. "So, where is she?"

She jumps off the couch when she hears Wally's name, all thoughts forgotten. The only thought in her head right now was that she'd finally have someone who could understand her, apart from her brother, of course. But her entire body stiffens when she sees a smaller, yet fiercer looking dog walk up beside the redhead talking to her brother. He also senses her, and begins to growl. At that moment, all her instincts take over and she starts to bark and growl at dog, which sets him off as well.

Dick sighs. "There she is." He says, before moving toward her.

But, she barely registers him as she bares her teeth at the new rival, trying to get this dog out of her den. What business does he have simply coming on like that unannounced? Well, if he wasn't going to leave, she was going to _make_ him.

She lunges forward, teeth bared, but Dick catches her by the bracelet/collar around her neck and pulls her back. Surprised, she makes this sound that sounded like a mixture of a yelp, whimper and a growl. Wally grabs his own dog, struggling because this isn't just _any_ dog; it's a pit bull. He may not believe in all that breed crap, but he did his research before adopting him and knows that pit bulls are pretty strong. He's never pulled him before or tried to attack or anything, but now, seeing this side of both dogs, Wally's convinced that maybe the website was right when it said that pit bulls needed _special attention_ at times.

"Sky!" She snaps out of her daze and looks up at her brother, who has a hand on her collar, and one on her head. Her eyes widen when she realizes that she just tried to kill Wally's dog, the same dog that she played with so many times and let Shiloh interact with.

She's kind of _horrified_.

"_Wow_." Wally says as he brings his dog back to a calm state, and looks her up and down, taking in everything.

Yep, he pretty much confirmed all the thoughts in her head.

* * *

She protests when Dick puts a leash on her, even when he reasons the decision.

"Sky, dogs around here, aren't really supposed to be left off-leash, you know that." He says. She knows, but that's not the reason she objected to the leash.

He was forced to buy a dog collar that you could clip a leash to, even though he wasn't very happy with that decision. He also had to remove her mother's bracelet, which she felt empty once removed. She also suddenly felt open and vulnerable, and she realizes that the bracelet gave her the confidence that there was always somebody with her. It had kept her sane for the past few days as a dog. But now she wasn't sure what to do.

Dick sighs, slipping the collar around her bare neck. "Just hang on, Sky." He tells her. "It'll be over before you know it."

He stands up and starts to walk and she feels the slight tug on the leash as he walks out to the limo. When she walks out, she sees about ten dogs at once, all walking alongside each other, and in perfect synch to their human. She feels her heart tug at this, and something tells her that that was what it was like being a dog.

Dick notices this, and puts her in the limo before more instincts can take over. She mentally thanks him after snapping out of her trance. She has to remember that she's a _human being_, a girl with an amazing family. But, she'd be lying if she said that she didn't fantasize on what a dog really wanted.

The limo drives to this huge mansion (well, wouldn't it?) and stops outside. The mansion is definitely large, but not as large as Wayne Manor. It had a huge backyard and front lawn, almost around two acres as far as she could tell, and it was covered with snow. Off to the side, she can make out the shape of a frozen lake. On the other side, what surprises her is the small houses like thing…dog kennels. And there were around seven of them. _Hm, this guy must own a lot of dogs._

Dick opens the door and steps out, lightly tugging on the leash, and she follows, feeling shy. He takes a deep breath and starts walking, and she feels him start thinking. What the hell was he doing? Didn't he know that being in touch with your surroundings was the way to survive? He would doom the whole pack. It was up to her to correct him and get him back on track…Wait, what? What just went through her mind?

Shaking the lingering thoughts out of her head, she stays close to Dick, feeling a bit intimidated by the new presence she felt.

He goes and knocks on the door, and an elderly man wearing a butler's outfit opens it. She suddenly feels a bit safer. This man's energy and body language showed that he was a confident follower, who knew how to be around dogs.

Politely greeting Dick, he showed them inside, but not before he politely patted her head as well. Once she's inside, she feels a different sensation overcome her; the sensation of dominance. She wanted to be a leader, set everything right by giving it rules and stuff, but she shakes it out of her head and suppresses the urge _way_ down. The butler leads her and Dick into the living room, where a man of around forty years of age stands up and greets them.

She doesn't really pay attention to him, but has her eyes fixed on the man sitting on the couch.

He's around Dick's age, with dark tan skin and a mop of black hair and brilliant green eyes. It's unmistakable that he's the business man's son. The thing is, he just doesn't look it. He probably knew they were coming over, and he still didn't bother to dress up like his father did. But what gets her aren't his looks, it's his energy. She can feel his power from all the way here. Even when he's sitting down, she can tell that one unspoken command from him would get any dog running around trying to please him.

His energy is so strong; it's stronger than Dick's.

The entrepreneur notices that he hasn't made many introductions. "Oh, forgive me. I haven't introduced you to my son." He turns and points to the younger man. "That is my son, Eric. Eric, come over here a second and meet Mr. Grayson."

He stands up and walks over to them, smiling as he shakes Dick's hand. Then he lowers his gaze down to her, and a _calculating_ expression emerges on his face.

"I see you have a husky as well." He says, bending down to her level and letting her sniff him. "She seems very well trained and exercised." Eric turns his head back to Dick. "Although how I'm not sure, since you must be extremely busy."

"I pull it off." Dick jokes.

Eric looks back at her, stroking her head and moving along her back. "Healthy, well-fed and active. You have an amazing sled-dog right here, Mr. Grayson." He observes.

"Call me Dick." Dick says, a little tense. "So, how do you know all this by simply observing her?"

"I worked as a vet tech for a few years before I started racing." He scratches behind her ears.

"What do you do now?" Dick asks, bending down as well.

"Right now? Nothing." Eric answers. When Dick gives him a questioning look, he continues, "I quit racing after my team broke up."

"Broke up?" Dick asks. "You mean they're not here?"

"Oh, they're still here." Eric says. He turns his head at the pattering of paws behind him to see six large huskies standing there. "And here they are."

Skylar stiffens up at the sight of so many dogs. Surprisingly, they came in a varying color shades. All she knew was the black and white she was and the grey and white from one owner on their street. But now, she was seeing sable, copper, pure black, agouti, silver and piebald. She had never seen those colors before, and it astounded her, apart from the raging instincts telling her to go and become their pack leader.

"Wow." Dick says. "We've never seen colors like that before."

"You probably would have seen at least a few when you went to the breeders." Eric says, patting the agouti one on the head.

"Why would you think that I went to a breeder?" Dick asks, confused.

"Where else would you have gotten your dog?" Eric asks.

Dick tightens his hand on her leash. "What if I found her on the streets?" he challenges.

Eric chuckles. "Trust me. I've lived my entire life with these dogs. I know when I see a dog so purebred; it could only have come from a breeder, a very _careful_ breeder too." He looks her over. "In fact, she's strong enough to pull an entire sled all by herself."

_Yeah, maybe because I've been given power from magical charms and amulets that make me Wonder Girl._

One of the dogs, the copper-red one, comes up to her and sniffs her politely. She stands up, feeling a dominant sensation overcomes her for a few moments before she indices it down. She looks up to see all the dogs looking at her expectantly. Unfortunately, Eric notices this.

"Seems the guys have taken a shine to her." He muses. "Now that I think about it, I don't even know her name."

"You introduce us to _your_ pack and we'll introduce you to _ours_." Dick jokes. He really liked this guy!

Eric laughs along for a while. Then he turns around, beckoning his dogs to come closer. "Okay, let's see, this guy's Nova," he points to a large silver husky, "this is Kodi," he gestures to a slightly smaller pure black dog, "that's Kenai," he points to a sable husky at the back of the group, "this pretty lady's Kiana," he strokes the head of the piebald female nuzzling him, "that girl there is Duchess," he points to an agouti female calmly standing on the other side of Kenai, "and finally, this is Talon," he points to the copper-red one that had approached her earlier. "Now, what's her name?" he asks.

"Skylar." Dick answers before she can motion to him.

Eric thinks about it for a while. "Skylar, a rather unusual name for a husky." He says.

"It was the only name I could think of when I took her in." Dick strokes her head. "So, anyway, why did you quit racing? You seem to have a pretty healthy team right here."

Eric sighs. "I have a team, but I don't have a leader."

"Huh?" Dick asks. "What do you mean? In most of the shows I've seen, a sled dog team only takes up to six dogs."

Eric grins. "TV always exaggerates stuff. You can have up to eleven dogs in a team, maybe even twenty-two. I chose to have seven."

Dick mentally counts the dogs. "I see only six."

"Exactly."

She perks her ears up.

Eric takes a deep breath. "Nanuk was my team's leader. He was the star of every show and every race. I had him ever since I was seventeen and my previous husky, Koda, passed away. He was the reason I went to work as a vet tech in the first place. But even he shared my passion for racing. So, I quit my job and got myself a team. It happened five years ago." He looks over at his dogs. "But, something happened on a race."

"What was it?" Dick comfortingly asks.

"We were racing across the frozen lake." Eric's eyes glaze over as if remembering the night. "We were leading and were about to win for the third time in a row. But when we reached the frozen lake, Nanuk stopped. Another team came up beside us and stopped as well. Just then," Eric shudders, "the ice broke and both our lead dogs fell in. We tried pulling them out, but something must have gotten stuck as we couldn't get them out of the water. It took us a long time, but when we finally got them out, Nanuk was terribly injured. He died soon after. I quit after that."

"But why?" Dick asks. "I know Nanuk must have meant a lot to you, but your pack must have wanted to move on. Why didn't you get another lead dog?"

"I tried." Eric looks down. "But none of them meshed with my team. You couldn't see the same level of coordination you could see when Nanuk lead the team."

Dick places a hand on his shoulder and covertly removes the leash from her collar. Just then, all six dogs whip around and run out. Surprised, they follow. The dogs lead them to a garage at the back of the mansion. Eric uncomfortably opens the door. When he opens it, they are met with the sight of a huge dog sled.

She marvels at the handiwork on it. Carefully detailed to the tiniest thing, this sled was one of a kind. Then, the six dogs stand in front of the sled in pairs, like she had seen so many times before.

"They're missing a lead dog." Eric almost chokes up.

Then Skylar walks ahead and stands in front of the entire team, with the glory of a team leader finally finding her team.

* * *

**A/N: So? This chapter was in my head for a while now. **

**Please review.**


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